Jason Worilds isn't the first player to walk away from the NFL while still having an opportunity to play - and make money. He wasn't the first this week. Or the last. Worilds, a linebacker for the Steelers, announced early Wednesday morning that he had "(stepped) away from football to pursue other interests." Within a 24-hour span, Worilds was joined by Patrick Willis, Jake Locker and Cortland Finnegan as players of varying repute who retired without having played past the age of 30. "There's a realization for most athletes that professional sports is more of a business than they imagined," said Dr. Jack Lesyk, a sport psychologist at Ohio Center...

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Jason Worilds isn't the first player to walk away from the NFL while still having an opportunity to play - and make money.
He wasn't the first this week. Or the last.
Worilds, a linebacker for the Steelers, announced early Wednesday morning that he...

NEW YORK (AP) — As free agency began Tuesday, the NFL looked more like fantasy football.
Trades, anyone?
Monster deals sending Jimmy Graham to Seattle and Sam Bradford to Philadelphia stole the spotlight from free agent signings.
New Orleans agreed...

Cullen Jenkins said the approach is the same, whether you are the best team in the league or the worst. Funny he should mention that because the Giants are, in fact, the worst team in the league — when it comes to defense."You try to master your...

By Dennis Georgatos, The Sports Xchange
DENVER — Peyton Manning wasted no time making history Sunday night, and there wasn't much the San Francisco 49ers could do about it.
The Broncos quarterback, who fought back from a career-threatening neck injury...

By Bucky Dent, The Sports Xchange
ST. LOUIS — The Monday night lights sure agree with the San Francisco 49ers.
Quarterback Colin Kaepernick threw for three touchdowns and 343 yards as San Francisco overcame a 14-0 first-quarter deficit for its seventh...

Two plays.Two plays to punch the football in from the 1-yard line in their first trip into San Francisco 49ers territory, coming with under three minutes remaining in Sunday’s bizarre game at Levi’s Stadium.The Philadelphia Eagles fittingly could not...

Eagles running back LeSean McCoy
"I'm not talking about running the football. I don't even want to talk about that. Any other questions?"
Eagles head coach Chip Kelly
"We're not very good up front right now; we've got a lot of guys...

So far, things have not gone according to plan for the San Francisco 49ers. The team that made it to the last three NFC Championship Games and a Super Bowl was supposed to cruise-control its way to another playoff berth and once again contend for the...

There will be a new look and new voice to open up every Sunday Night Football game on NBC this season. One of the new players to be featured with Carrie Underwood in the opening will be the Eagles' LeSean McCoy. That's a surprise since the Eagles, usually a fa

Obituaries this week: It's hard thinking of something substantial to write about every team in the NFC every week, and it's even tougher writing their obituaries. And so, I'd like to personally thank Redskins head coach Mike Shanahan, who basically ...

The Sacramento Bee reports: The 49ers, in need of inside linebackers after losing Patrick Willis and Chris Borland to retirement, have had discussions about signing free agent Lance Briggs, a league source said.
Briggs, 34, played 12 seasons for the...

Patrick Willis made seven Pro Bowls and a strong case for the Pro Football Hall of Fame yet his sudden retirement at 30 paled in comparison to that of a lesser 49ers linebacker.
Chris Borland was younger than Willis too. The 24-year-old shocked the...

TEMPE, Ariz. — For two hours Sunday, on a unique stage in Arizona, Michael Bush pushed his hardest to prove a point — that he still belongs in the NFL, that his abrupt exit from Chicago last year has never sat well and that he isn't willing to accept...

PHOENIX The 49ers have had discussions about ex-Bears linebacker Lance Briggs, according to a league source. Briggs, 34, played 12 years for Chicago and was named to seven Pro Bowls. He's been injured in each of the last two seasons, playing in only...

Chris Borland, the former 49ers linebacker who shockingly retired after one year in the NFL, said Sunday that he will return three-fourths of his signing bonus to the team. Borland received a $617,436 signing bonus when he agreed to a four-year deal...

Of all the tumult to follow the National Football League in the past year — including a spate of domestic violence cases and questions about deflated footballs — nothing has roiled the country's most popular sport quite like the retirement of an...

After just one NFL season, San Francisco linebacker Chris Borland, who looked like the future of the 49ers' defense, will retire out of concerns about the long-term effects of brain injuries.
Borland, 24, revealed his surprising decision Monday...

One week after Patrick Willis surprised the NFL with his decision to retire, his would-be replacement at inside linebacker has decided to do the same. Chris Borland, who as a rookie last year led the 49ers in tackles, told ESPN's "Outside the...

Wary of head trauma, San Francisco 49ers linebacker Chris Borland is leaving football. And not even the promise of NFL stardom and piles of money could change his mind. So now, after one stellar rookie season, he is retiring at age 24. The 49ers announced...

Wary of head trauma, San Francisco 49ers linebacker Chris Borland is leaving football. And not even the promise of NFL stardom and piles of money could change his mind.
So now, after one stellar rookie season, he is retiring at age 24.
The 49ers...